By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, Aoril 29, 2024
Rafael Nadal beat Pedro Cachin 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 in three hours, four minutes to reach the Mutua Madrid Open round of 16 for the 18th time.
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty
Unleashing topspin that trampolined off the red clay, Rafael Nadal faced turbulence with end-game elevation.
A resilient Nadal lifted his level at critical stages fending off Pedro Cachin 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 to reach the Mutua Madrid Open round of 16.
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It is Nadal’s 18th Madrid round of 16 appearance, dating back to the days when it was a hard-court tournament, and it did not come easy.
This three hour, four-minute clash was Nadal’s longest clay-court match of this season and longest match since his three hour, 26-minute loss to Aussie Jordan Thompson in the Brisbane quarterfinals last January.
By the time the dust had settled, Nadal improved to 478-46 lifetime on his favored red clay.
"It's positive, because as I said in Spanish, now I don't feel that something went wrong on my body, but I need to wait until tomorrow, being 100% honest," Nadal told the media in Madrid. "On Brisbane, after the match with Jordan Thompson, I felt something there, but I hope on the press conference I had the faith that nothing wrong happened but then happened, you know. Then when I wake up tomorrow, the day after, my feelings were not the way that I really thought that could be. So I need to go all the process, the MRI, and it shows I have a small tear there.
"I don't have that negative feeling now like I had in that moment, but nobody knows what can happen during the night and how I wake up tomorrow morning."
The 37-year-old Spanish superstar moved with vigor, showed his familiar fighting spirit and was the stronger than the world No. 91 in the decider.
The challenge is that Nadal, reportedly suffering from an abdominal issue, isn’t generating free points on serve, lost the plot at the start of the second set to fall into a double-break hole and won only six points on second serve.
Still, given all Nadal has endured with a hip surgery on his birthday last June, a microtear to the muscle around his hip that knocked him out of the Australian Open and a 103 day recovery, he’s thrilled to be in this position.
Nadal said he’s eager to keep this Madrid dream alive.
The man from Mallorca will face 30th-seeded Czech Jiri Lehecka tomorrow with a quarterfinal spot on the line.
“Well some moments good, some moments not good,” said Nadal, after improving to 81-29 in matches that exceed three hours. “I find a way to be through. I think in the third set even with some mistakes I was able to be a little bit more predictable and that probably changed the match.
“Let’s see how I wake up tomorrow. Day by day I’m enjoying the fact I’m playing at home means everything to me. Just try my best to keep dreaming. Tomorrow is another day to keep dreaming playing in front of this amazing crowd. And that, to me, means everything.”
It's Nadal third consecutive win in Madrid markingt he first time he's won three matches in a row at an event since his run to the 2022 US Open round of 16.
Playing in front of a festive crowd, that featured wife, Mery, the couple’s son, Rafa Jr., and much of his family, Nadal got off to a flying start only to see Cachin take charge to start the second set.
Credit Cachin, who arrived in Madrid riding a dismal 0-10 start to the season, for shrugging off the lopsided first set and battling the king of clay all the way. Cachin, who snapped a 15-match losing streak by defeating Sebastian Ofner in his Madrid opener, showed resilience in the face of an overwhelmingly pro-Nadal Madrid crowd.
Twenty-eight minutes into the match, Nadal was cranking up the swirling spin on his twisting topspin forehand pushing Cachin into the corner.
Stepping into the court, Nadal changed direction with a big bang rocketing a forehand winner down the line breaking again for a 4-1 lead.
As wife Mery watched from a front-row box, Nadal shared slick all-court skills.
Moving forward, Nadal knocked off a high backhand volley—making the toughest shot in tennis look routine—holding to stretch his lead to 5-1. Nadal was 24 of 33 at net today.
Cachin was serving at 30-15 when play was paused for a few minutes because of a spectator apparently suffering from a medical issue that required treatment.
When play resumed, Nadal zapped a backhand winner behind Cachin for a set point. Cachin saved it then erased a second set point with a snapping serve.
Repelling the serve-and-volley attempt, Nadal razed a running forehand pass for a third set point. This time, Cachin sent a forehand long as Nadal broke again snatching a one-set lead after 47 minutes.
The five-time Madrid champion broke three times running off the final four games of the set.
Nadal hit six more winners—14 to 8—in the opening set, but littered the red clay with a series of errors, gifting the break to start the second set.
That game was a prelude to a sloppy stretch that saw Nadal badly muff a forehand into net, land some shots short in the court and net a volley.
The man wearing the white backward baseball cap dodged a break point and held firm to extend his lead to 3-1.
Though he’s a lighter hitter than Nadal, Cachin is a nimble mover who was anticipating the angles and answering.
Cracking a crosscourt backhand , Cachin followed running down a dropper and treating Nadal to a head-fake before sliding a pass down the line. That shot gave him break point and when Nadal scattered another drive long, Cachin strode to his seat with a 4-1 second-set lead.
Asserting his forehand again, Nadal came right back to earn break points. The Spaniard caught a break when Cachin sent a smash long giving Nadal a break back in the sixth game.
Stepping up to serve for the second set at 5-4, Cachin got 30-all but double faulted to face a break point. The Argentinean saved break point with a fantastic backhand stretch volley.
Running around his backhand, Cachin smacked a forehand down the line for a second set point. Cachin dragged a forehand wide to squander it.
Thumping his deepest return of the game brought Nadal another break point. Jitters got the best of Cachin, who double-faulted away the break. Madrid fans erupted in cheers as Nadal was level 5-all.
An erratic Nadal could not make the break stand as he failed to control a forehand and Cachin earned his third break for 6-5.
Ripping a couple of crackling forehand strikes down the line brought Nadal to triple break point.
In a touch duel conducted almost completely inside the service box, Nadal created a sharp angle coaxing the error to break back and force the tiebreaker.
In a topsy-turvy tiebreaker, Cachin jumped out to a 4-1 lead only to see Nadal level 5-all.
Freezing the former champion, Cachin smacked a crosscourt forehand for a third set point at 6-5.
When Nadal tried to serve-and-volley, Cachin countered brilliantly, banging a backhand pass to take the second set with a shout after two hours, 13 minutes.
While Cachin lifted his level firing 18 of his 26 winners in the second set, Nadal took charge of the third immediately.
Displaying his opponent with a crosscourt forehand, Nadal danced around his backhand and lasered a forehand winner breaking to start the final set.
When he was attacking forehands and firing into both corners, Nadal could control rallies as he showed stamping the love hold to back up the break.
Each time Nadal got up, Cachin pushed back. The Argentinean held his ground breaking back to even the set 2-2.
Brain-cramping, Cachin hit a horrible drop shot that sat up in the service box. Nadal swooped in and slammed a backhand winner breaking for the eighth time to go up 3-2.
Nadal won four of the final five games to close in three hours, four minutes.